I’m always on the look out for useful and thought provoking resources on how nonprofits can use data to make better decisions that lead to greater impact. So, when Mary K Winkler, one of the nonprofit data nerds I follow on Twitter and Senior Research Associate at Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits & Philanthropy specializing in performance management told me via Twitter she had just published a new guide on this topic, I had to check it out.

Moving Beyond a Culture of Compliance to a Culture of Continuous Improvement is a resource guide to help leadership, management, supervisory, and data-focused staff in Head Start and Early Head Start programs (1) understand how data, including data they already collect, can help them achieve their program goals; (2) learn techniques for fostering a culture of learning in their organization; and (3) increase their ability to identify and address gaps and continuously improve their programs. It was designed to complement existing technical assistance resources through tip sheets, examples, and links to multiple resources.

I was most interested in Part 2 (pages 17-21) because I think the advice is applicable to organizations beyond those managing head start programs. This section of the report covers new ways of thinking about organizational culture based in continuous improvement based on feedback. It speaks to establishing culture norms among staff of curiosity, reflection, and trust. It outlines the practices and skills needed to create a learning culture. Here’s what I learned:

Definition: A culture of continuous improvement

The term means learning culture. The term “continuous” that the organization has create a virtuous cycle of feedback that repeatedly inspires staff to reflect on what is working and what can be done differently to get better results. This process of reflection is embedded in the organization’s working style, not a random moment of inspiration after a program evaluation is completed. Everyone on staff understands that the questions are the best teachers and in an effort to sustain learning articulate questions and seek answers to those questions.

Organizations that have this type of culture do not play the blame game if something needs to be improved. They have a created a safe space for staff and program participants and other stakeholders to give feedback, reflect, ask questions, and think creatively about solutions. Senior leaders model the skill that Edgar H. Schein calls “Humble Inquiry” – the art of asking questions based on curiosity and building trust.

Cultural Indicators

The report describes the indicators below as hallmarks of a culture of continuous improvement.

The report points out that Head Start Programs often have to balance compliance with creating a culture of continuous improvement, not an easy task. Not only do organizations need data collection systems, but also systems for observation, learning, reflection, and action or as the report describes “systems that help us identify and solve problems proactively instead of always reacting.” The reports offers up the metaphor of “how shift from fighting fires to innovation”

The report also talks about an organization’s cultural readiness to switch to a culture of continuous improvement, using a blog post I wrote about being data-informed for inspiration. It maps out stages of change, but also recognizes that organizations may be in different stages at the same time:

Dormant: At this stage, the organization does not know where to start. Data collection may occur from time to time, but there is no formal reporting.There are no data systems in place, such as dashboards or simple collection methods. Staff are often overwhelmed by the thought of measurement and itfalls to the bottom of the to-do list. Alternatively, there may bean emphasis on collecting more data than is necessary, but no one relates it to decision making. There is not a reflection process for analyzing success or failure for future use.

Testing and Coordinating: At this stage, the organization is regularly collecting data, but it is stored across different spreadsheets and collected by different people or departments. Data are not linked to organizational resultsor mission-driven goals across programs. Discussions on how to improveresults are rarely part of staff meetings. Scaling and Institutionalization: At this stage, there is an organization-widesystem and dashboard for collecting data that are shared with differentdepartments. There are different views or levels of detail for senior leaders,line staff, or other stakeholders. There are periodic (e.g., weekly, biweekly,monthly, or quarterly) check-ins to evaluate what is working and what is not.The organization provides training and professional development for staff to learn how to use measurement tools.

Empowering: At this stage, performance indicators are used across programs throughout the organization. There is a staff position responsible for settingthe overall agenda for data collection and reporting, helping staff understanddata, and assuring that systems and timelines are successful. All staff,however, are empowered and expected to check, apply, and interpret theirown data. In addition to periodic check-ins, the organizational dashboard includes goal-oriented performance metrics. The organizational dashboard isshared across departments and there is a process for analyzing, discussing,and applying results. Data visualization techniques are used not only to report the data analysis but also to reflect on best practices culled from the data.

The report also includes a reference to this excellent tool for evaluating an organization’s capacity to do evaluation activities. The report identifies these criteria:

Core Competencies of Organizations: With a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Our organization modifies its course of action based on findings from program data.

Mangers look at program data as an important input to help them improve staff performance and manage for results.

Findings from program data are integrated into decision-making when deciding which policy options and strategies to pursue.

For people who are in the data for good space, technical work and “janitorial” work are only a part of their jobs. Understanding organizational data culture or creating a culture of continuous improve based on data is a hot topic. It’s on the agenda at Do Good Data Conference later this month (I’m co-facilitating the ending plenary). It’s also on the Data on Purpose Conference at Stanford in June. For some organizations, it is more zen- it’s about beginning it and continuing it as Laura Quinn from Idealware points out on the Markets For Good blog.

5 Responses

Beth, thanks for sharing this content. One of the messages I try to emphasize with my clients is that nonprofits need to implement processes that identify and address threats and opportunities on an ongoing basis (as noted, for instance, in http://risk-alternatives.com/3-questions-for-leading-in-risk-management/). This doesn’t happen without a culture that is at least open to learning. Nor does it happen overnight. Nor does it happen effectively without gathering data and assessing according to metrics. I’m going to share your post on LinkedIn and elsewhere — and I’m definitely going to direct my clients to this article.

Cynthia: Thanks for finding the link. There was some missing information in the one originally posted and HHS reposted the link you shared, middle of the week. The report is also now available on Urban Institute’s website.